Judging AV

We often get asked to judge AV Competitions. Recently I was asked if we could
give any advice on the best way to judge. The person asking hadn't done any AV
judging before. He had pointed this out to the club who had asked him but was
told it was not a problem, they would still like him to do it. It was actually
after the event that he e-mailed. He said how he had gone about it and what did
I think. He also said he had trolled the internet for information on how to
judge AV and not found any.

He had approached it by making a sheet in Excel with the four disciplines he
thought key to sequence making, these each had five sub-headings with the maximum
of one point being given for each. This gave him marks out of 20. He had the
sequences to look through beforehand but said it had taken him quite a time!
He also realised that if judging 'on the hoof' he would struggle to score so
many boxes. He had written a very intuitive short critique for each sequence
and the club were delighted. The members held their own vote, some had also
looked for judging information on the internet and not come up with anything.

So how do we do it? I said that a lot of judges, including ourselves, use the
ABC system (I also use +/-'s). This quickly separates the top sequences to choose
the winners from. We also make notes of anything we think can be improved or,
just as important, commended. Most clubs ask for comments on each sequence and
we are usually invited to give these on the competition evening. First and
foremost we have to remember that some of the entrants may never have made a
sequence before, so comments have to reflect this. It can be useful to give a
general comment at the start of the evening, it saves repeating yourself
throughout the evening and gives the club members a chance to see what you
mean. For instance, we might point out that quite a number of the sequences
have used different size images, explaining that this doesn't help maintain a
smooth flow, one of the keys to a good sequence.

So what do I look for? What makes a sequence work and get my A mark? It must
hold my interest even if the subject is not one I would normally choose to watch.
It will be well crafted, i.e. the author will have taken time to perfect every
aspect of it. It will have a pace that suits the mood being created. The 'why I
want to communicate this to you' will come across e.g. 'Why I love flowers' or
'I find this interesting/fascinating and want to share it with you' or 'My soul
is fed when I am in the mountains - this is how I feel'.

A good sequence should not let anything distract the audience. Distractions
could be:

Bad sound quality – loud hiss, especially if it stops and starts, popping
P's (speak across the mic rather than down into it), bad music changes, stops
abruptly at the end, music too loud behind voiceover, sound effects badly used.

Bad fades – images are different size or orientation, horizons don't matchup,
lines/angles/shapes cross rather than match, a non-fade transition is used for
no purpose.

Movement – must be relevant and enhance the sequence, if you notice it thinking
'why's it suddenly moving?' it probably isn't working.

Badly chosen music – it has no relevance to the sequence, wrong pace for mood
being created.

Script problems – talking to the pictures i.e. describing exactly what we can
see, over technical/too much information for audience aimed at, lost the plot,
repeating things unnecessarily.

Production problems – images don't change in time to the music/soundtrack,
sequence too long, repeated images, not enough variety of images, lacks
satisfying ending, unsuitable voice chosen for voiceover, text not held on
long enough to read or on too long, text not sympathetic to sequence i.e.
size and font.

My C's will consist of sequences that haven't quite made it as far as getting
the message across and have very obvious production/technical faults. Often they
need just a bit more thought and time spent on them.

My B's are often technically competent, they just lack anything special to lift
them above the rest.

My A's will consist of good quality sequences that really communicate the idea
well. But what I am looking for is 'Magic X'. There is sometimes something about
a sequence that will send it immediately to the top of my A list. It's
undefinable, you just know it when you see it. It's 'a bit of magic', a sequence
that is unforgettable. For example, there are many moments in 'Special' by Howard
Bagshaw & Jeff Mansell. One that instantly springs to mind is the child's smile,
that is a classic magic moment. 'Who'll look after mam now?' the final line in
'Idwal Bach' by Ron Davies is also one, it is often quoted in AV circles. One of
my all time favourite sequences is 'La nuit des docks' a French sequence that
was made in slides around 1997, it was full of magic. There was no voice-over,
just very powerful music and precision timing. The plot - a man sets up his music
stand at night on a track, he then proceeded to 'conduct' the lights of the dock.
Does anyone know if it has ever been digitalized? I'd love to see it again.

So when I judge, I do so from the heart more than the head, if technical faults
distract me, I note them. If they don't, it's because I am so absorbed in
watching – after all, it's all about communication.

Marion Waine
July 2011

Share your passions.

Share your stories.

Company Limited by Guarantee No. 00269085. Registered Charity No. 260467.
Authors' views are not necessarily those of the Institute of Amateur Cinematographers.
Website hosted by Merula. JavaScripts by JavaScript Source. Menu by Live Web Institute.
Art work by Tony Kendle.